9 Hallmark Christmas Movies to Watch This Holiday Season

TV Guide

Friday

Nov 9, 2018 at 3:41 PM

The holiday season is upon us, which means it's time to start bringing out all the staples of the season -- shopping lists, peppermint everything, strands of twinkly lights galore, and, of course, Hallmark's original movies schedule.

This year, the network has gone all out with its Christmas collection, but there are a few films in particular that stand out as must-sees for maximum merriment. Here are the nine Hallmark Christmas movies we're most excited to watch in 2018.

Who doesn't love a good story about a big-shot executive who figures out that the small-town lifestyle is so much more interesting? In Christmas in Love, we meet Ellie Hartman (Brooke D'Orsay), whose claim to local fame is her signature pastry dish Christmas Kringles and who takes it upon herself to soften the sensibilities of a visiting CEO named Nick (Daniel Lissing), who comes into town with plans to lay people off. Will her yummy treats and introductions to the wonders of the local scenery and residents convince him to be less mercurial with all of those harsh automation plans? We'll see!

Country music singer Kellie Pickler will return to her southern roots as Laurel, a Chicago business woman who reconnects with a long lost love/singing partner named Clay (Wes Brown) while visiting Memphis for a bank acquisition project. Will the siren song of musicianship draw her back to the life she left behind? One way or the other, we can count on this one to make everyone dance.

Ah, yes, the obligatory king meets commoner and falls in love story. Hey, it might be well-worn territory, but you know what? It still works. Will Katie (Merritt Patterson)'s ice-dancing skills win over the dashing monarch so that she can skate around in a crown? As long as she doesn't face plant in the rink, she's got a shot.

Okay, okay, so this one kind of sounds like the adult version of a get along t-shirt, but we're into it. The film introduces us to Darcy (Lacey Chabert) and her old rival Luke (Brendan Penny) as they're forced to work together on a charity project and start to see each other in an entirely different light. The fact that this is based on a novel by Melissa de la Cruz makes us even more intrigued.

This shopping mall-centric modernization of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has all the right ingredients for festive awesome sauce. A woman named Noelle (Candace Cameron Bure) gets locked in a shoe store and meets her guardian angel, who takes her through Christmases past, present, and future -- the latter of which involves a handsome firefighter (Luke Macfarlane). What's not to like here?

It's really too bad the title for this movie isn't a real app because the idea of linking up for professional events with no commitment to anything serious sounds like a pretty smart invention. Of course, there are bound to be some people who decide they'd like to see a little more of each other after their temporary pairing, so the app's founder Molly (Jen Lilley) tries to test it out with her own match Jeff (Brant Daugherty), who she's apparently had some not so great run-ins with in the past. Is the app doomed to fail if these two can't get along -- or worse, fall in love?

What happens when a renowned DIY goddess' daughter is poised to take her place in company leadership but she can't do any of the crafty things her mom is famous for? That's what Kara (Jodie Sweetin) will find out first hand after the celebrated lifestyle star sends Kara to help a young girl welcome her deployed father home. That's when Kara's greeted by the girl's uncle, who just so happens to be a journalist looking for his next big expose. Kara best watch out because she might find herself falling into trouble... or love.

What happens when an ambitious architect (Tia Mowry-Hardrict) has to prove her mettle by winning a gingerbread contest but she loses her star pastry chef before the big day? Well, in this case, she'll hire a local hot dad baker (Duane Henry) to help her out. And while she might have her eye on the prize of winning a big contract in another city, seeing the real-life home he's made for himself and his little girl might just make her change her mind about moving to a big city. Sounds delicious.

This one is bound to pull at all the heartstrings. The movie centers on a group of orphans who are mysteriously stranded in a small town, so some of the residents (Erin Krakow, Lori Loughlin) band together to make the kiddos' holiday something very special indeed. The holiday spirit seems very, very strong with this one, which is probably why it's scheduled for Christmas Day.